Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Big Changes and Great Expectations

Well hello there. It has been months since my last entry. I am afraid I am not very good at this blogging thing, but even so, I am not ready to give up. A lot has gone on since my last entry at the end of October, so here are some updates.

A few years ago, my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. They began treatment, and life went on almost as normal for a long time. But as is always the case with Parkinson's disease, things began to go downhill and daily life was beginning to be more challenging for my parents. Then, this past December, things really went downhill. Dad got sick. Really sick. He was in and out of hospitals and rehab centers for about two months straight and on a couple of occasions I was convinced that he would not be around much longer. While in the hospital, he seemed to develop dementia, which sometimes comes with Parkinsonism. He also mostly lost the ability to walk. Things were not looking good. He would need a lot of care once he came home, so our family made some big changes.

In the middle of January, our family packed up and moved in with my mom and dad. They have a pretty big house, so we were able to create a little apartment for them with their own living room and bedroom and full bathroom. The doors are open a lot, but they also are free to close them to get away from the kids noise whenever they need.

There were a lot of adjustments at first for everyone involved, but sure enough we are figuring out our dance and how to combine these two households, and dad is a lot better than he was when he was in the hospital and rehab center. Dementia still visits us, but it is not to the degree that it was in the hospital. The Parkinsons has also improved since coming home. He is walking without a walker and doing things for himself that he had lost the ability to do (like make his own coffee or toast). Last week he even got outside to do some minor yard work. He has always had beautiful flower beds in the front and back and he wants to keep those up. It makes me smile to see him working outside. How far he has come. Those scary days in the hospital are behind us for now.

Homeschooling has been going alright. It took a good long while to get back into a groove. We took a lot of time off in January and February because it was just too much to adjust and try and keep schedule. When we started back up, we did basics only and are pretty much still on basics with a few readings per week (instead of per day) added in. I will slowly add in more over time. Because we took so much time off during the winter months, we will definitely be schooling throughout the summer. Right now we are working on catching up on the 3 R's so that we will be at grade level in the fall.

Great Expectations! It looks as though we will be having a new baby this winter. It was unexpected yet not surprising (as usual). Of course, I will feel better once I have gotten to that magical 12 week mark where it is socially acceptable to let the news out, but we have told pretty much our entire inner circle. Whats a few more people going to hurt? I am hoping and believing for some wonderful brightness in the middle of the darkest month of the year.